The Death of Defense

    What exactly is fear?
    What is it 'scientifically'?
    Fear is really adrenaline. Most people think of it as an emotion...and it is. But what are emotions? They are psychological sensations that we learn from experience. Our first experience of love, of loss, of pain --these emotions are all born from experiences.
    Is it really possible to control fear?
    Yes, it is. But it doesn't come easily. Fear is a very natural response. It is one of two base programs that constantly drive us. The other is desire. Another way to put it is: pain and pleasure. We are hardwired to escape pain and we are instinctively attracted to pleasure. This dual nature is the one thing we have in common with all the other animals.
    So how do we overcome a response that is so deeply primitive?

    Thought Experiment:

    Scenario #1:

    Imagine you are walking through the woods...you start down a narrow pass between two immense rock walls on each side of you...you walk on for a few good minutes, then you notice something a little different lying in the leaves up ahead...before you realize it, you stop just a few short yards from a huge, crouching mountain lion whose eyes are piercing through you with the penetration of a fearless killer.
   You start to back up,  slowly at first, until you, soon, find yourself running as fast as you can...backwards! Try to actually feel the adrenaline and fear running through your veins!

    Scenario #2:

    You are on a new  reality game show called Kill for Cash...Round 1 comes up and your are placed at the beginning of a long dark hallway. This hallway has been filled with ten street people, all homeless, hungry and desperate. Strapped around your chest is a vest full of $1,000,000  in 100 dollar bills. The bills are barely hanging there. A fast attacker could snatch a handful and make a quick, easy  payday...or a small group could overwhelm you and take it all!
    You're goal is to make it through to the end of the hallway and any money you have left when you exit...you get to keep!
    How hard  and fast would you move through that corridor, and how hard would you hit anyone that even made a movement in your direction. 

Now for the experiment:

• from the first scenario, remember what it felt like to run backwards as fast as you could with that mountain lion about to pounce on you and tear off your face!

• now, at the same time, think of rushing forward down that dark hall, in the second scenario, not knowing what might come next. Punching, kicking, elbowing...whatever you have to do to make it out that door with your future.

Can you focus on both at the same time?

Really take a sec to try...

No...you can't. Because the laws of physics don't allow you to be in two places at the same time. This goes for thoughts and actions, as well. Your mind cannot focus on two completely opposite movements in opposite directions at the same time.

Yet, conventional martial artists, boxers , and even, some military hand to hand programs teach their trainees to spend hours a day perfecting the art of retreat, evading, bobbing, weaving, etc. Then in real combat they have to think about when to do what and how quick.
Think about their own attack, the enemy's attack, their defense, their enemy's defense...think, think, think!

There's an old combat saying:

"The best defense is a good offense."

So why are we so stuck in self-defense? Does it not make more sense to go into self-offense mode without any fear of what your opponent might do to you? Believe it or not there is an offensive solution to every offensive attack. I will show you how it is done and why it works in my next blog.

For now...stop being defensive...and just hit something.

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Computer World Dominance or Dumbinence

I seriously doubt computers will ever "take over the world" for one simple reason: communication. I'm an Information Technology Major and I, also, work in the computer field. The problem is that for all their impressive processing power computers show their weaknesses in some pretty significant ways.

Look at voice recognition. As humans, one of our greatest evolutionary technologies was our development in language. Computers have language too--its called binary--but while it is, indeed, a very precise code with a demanding syntax structure, it is not nearly as sophisticated as human speech.

The human language is rich with nuances in inflection, diction, and tone. These are not just semantic components. They actually have power. Just think about any time you have read a text from someone, overreacted emotionally, and then acted out because of it. You maybe even ended a relationship.

When in reality the sender was simply saying something in humor. Yet, because the phone or computer could not deliver the "tone" or subtle body language of the sender, a huge error in communication occurred.

On a social level, in front of Facebook, this may seem trivial, but I wouldn't want that same machine negotiating peace in the middle east at the next Geneva Convention.

Point: Computers are dumb. They only do what we tell them to!

Welcome!

I am now enlightened, Hope every one enjoys!